PicoBlog

Some quick thoughts on Green Day’s new album, “Saviors,” before we get into the song-by-song analysis. This is the most complete record they’ve put out since 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown,” surpassing 2016’s Revolution Radio. A lot of the themes are the same (a critical look at society, government, politics, social media, drug use) but there are very few low moments or throwaway songs. I could have cut three songs off RevRad and not missed them. Here, every song feels essential — or close to it — and offers something different in terms of the thematic arc of the album.

Musically, Tré Cool hasn’t hit the drums this well since 2004’s “American Idiot” and Mike Dirnt hasn’t slapped the bass like this in 20 years. Billie Joe also delivers his vocals as well as he has since 2001’s “Warning.” That they are back with longtime producer Rob Cavallo is very apparent, in a very good way.

Here’s my song-by-song analysis in order of how they appear on “Saviors,” with each one given a rating from one to five donuts.

🍩🍩🍩 The American Dream Is Killing Me - Cool opener that sets the stage for the rest of the album. Never loved this song but it’s very post-2004 Green Day and does its job.

🍩🍩🍩 Look Ma, No Brains! - Ramones-esque punk song that goes with the theme of the album (are we all losing our minds?) and is a cool one for Green Day to have in their catalog.

🍩🍩🍩🍩 Bobby Sox - There are a few songs having to do with a romantic love interest. This is the first one. Cool chorus. Billie Joe has never sung like this. Sonically sounds like it could be on Weezer’s Blue Album, but maybe that’s just me (especially the last 1 ½ minutes).

🍩🍩 One Eyed Bastard - An insulting song about an unnamed entity taking advantage of the less fortunate. Perhaps about record companies, or just capitalism in general.

🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩 Dilemma - One of the best Green Day songs of the last decade. Personal, catchy, simple, 3-chord track. “I was sober, now I’m drunk again / I’m in trouble and in love again.”

🍩🍩🍩🍩 1981 - If there’s a classic Green Day song construction, it’s using the word “She” to describe a love interest. (ex: She, Last of the American Girls, She’s a Rebel). It always hits. Here, “She’s gonna bang her head like it’s 1981 / She is a Cold War in my head, and I am East Berlin.”

🍩🍩🍩🍩 Goodnight Adeline - Heartbreaking song that ties the themes of the last two songs together. It’s revealed that the love interest from Bobby Sox and 1981 is Billie’s wife, Adrienne (or Adeline). He’s written her a goodbye song in advance of anticipation of falling back into alcoholism. 

🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩 Coma City - This song begins the second act of Saviors, when we zoom out and take a look at society. There’s a thematic thread of being in a coma, as perhaps referenced in the last song when Billie says goodbye. But coma is also used as a way of saying the government has fallen asleep at the wheel. “A gun shot, gun shot heads shooting in the distance / It's on your face and hands with no resistance.” Also, maybe my favorite part of the album is the last minute, when Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt show off their virtuoso drum and bass skills.

🍩🍩🍩 Corvette Summer - In this nostalgically-tinted, cowbell-laced joint, Billie sings about using rock-and-roll music as medicine for his worries about society. “Living in chaos, Sick and I'm bored / Take me to urgent care, Or thе record store.”

🍩🍩🍩 Suzie Chapstick - Pet Sounds vibes. Here, we get a verse from the album’s protagonist (Billie) and the romantic interest (Adeline). Times are difficult as Billie sings from somewhere away from Adeline (on tour, perhaps) and they are both thinking back to an argument (or arguments) they had. Drugs are back in play. “Broken pieces from a busted heart / Not even the drugs seem to work.” 

🍩🍩🍩🍩 Strange Days Are Here to Stay - Billie comes to accept that there’s nothing he can do and this is just the world we live in. “Ever since Bowie died, it hasn't been the same.” This is the song that most sounds like a track off American Idiot and even includes a reference to Jesus of Suburbia getting a job in “Homecoming” (And Jesus gonna quit his job).

🍩🍩🍩 Living in the 20s - Green Day kicks it back into high gear, seemingly angry again. It’s revealed that there’s been another mass shooting. This is meant to capture the anger we feel every time one of these happens, and they belittle the typically-empty responses by politicians singing “My condolences, Ain't that a kick in the head?”

🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩 Father to a Son - The third act of Saviors. I cried when I heard this for the first time. But it’s fine, I was only at the gym. Heartwrenching song that shines the light back on Billie and his family, and how to navigate being a father in these strange times. “Is there anything I can do? A wisdom where your heart is heading to. A place you want more than I could give.” … “I never knew a love could be scarier than anger / A promise, father to a son.”

🍩🍩🍩 Saviors - Here, Green Day admits they can only do so much as 50-something-year-old rockers (“We are the last of the rockers making a commotion.”) and are looking for someone from the new generation to emerge as a “savior” (“Will somebody save us tonight?”).

🍩🍩 Fancy Sauce - A song that sounds like the end credits to a movie. Billie fictitiously decides that admitting himself into a mental asylum or joining a cult is more sane than continuing to live in the craziness of the outside world.

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